Simple Is Better
“As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col. 2:6). How did you receive Christ when you came to believe in Him, when you “got saved”? Was there a lot of pomp? Did you have to memorize large sections of the Bible? Were you wearing your “Sunday go to meeting clothes”?
Most likely, it was in the quietness of your spirit realizing your sin and need of a Savior. No fanfare. No parties (until afterwards when you realized what you just inherited). Maybe tears. Surely humility recognizing you were in the presence of the God of all creation, who was listening to you pour out your soul in repentance for what your sin did to Jesus.
That’s the picture of Paul’s message
to the Colossians when he reminds them “as you have received Christ.” The little word “so” is an admonition to walk (live) in Him the same way. Just what way is that? In a nutshell, in simple faith. Now that you are a child of the King of kings, know that there is no burden to become an overseas missionary, no demand to sell all your possessions and give away the money, or run around the desert wearing camel hair and eating grasshoppers (like John the Baptist, see Mark 1:6). God may call you to something unfamiliar, but he always goes with you (Deut. 1:30, 20:4, 31:6; Heb. 13:5).
When Samuel was rebuking Saul (1 Sam. 15:10-23) for disobeying God’s command about destroying the Amalekites and Saul was giving a lame excuse about taking spoil to sacrifice to God, Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.”
The main thing God demands
of His kids, you and me, is obedience. As the creator, He has the right to make the rules. Granted, He never forces us to obey. But there are always consequences for disobedience. And one of them is that we become separated from Him because we’re ashamed of our behavior. So, simple is better because He doesn’t require more than we can perform (1 Cor. 10:13) and He always gives us the moral strength to obey.
If our motives are pure and our heart is set on honoring God, His requirements are simple. And they are only two. Love the Lord with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27). The world will accept us only if we meet their pride-based standards of higher education degrees, big bank accounts, positions of prominence, etc.; all things that put pressure on us to succeed according to their definition of success.
God accepts us,
sin and all, if we have trusted Jesus as our Savior. Nothing more required. No CV of good deeds. No large donations. A favorite verse of mine is 1 Cor. 1:27, “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.” That should be comforting and an encouragement knowing that there is nothing we can do, good or bad, to make God love us less or more.
If you’re new at this God thing, regardless of your stage of life, the single best thing we can do is immerse ourselves in the Bible. Listen to these powerful promises. “The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130). “Establish Your word to Your servant as that which produces reverence for You.” (Psalm 119:38). “…the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:7b).
The simple approach to being a Christian is,
Get a Bible, read it, believe it, live by its teaching, share it with others. Get it? Got it? Good! Thanks for reading.
For more on what God offers everyone who comes to Him on His terms, check out the Appendix Steps To Salvation.